MIKELE - I don't think that we've ever evaluated an Oldsmobile since
we've been writing this column, and now the marque is being eliminated
by General Motors. Going through your Dad's car library, I found a book
on the history of Oldsmobile and I was surprised to learn that it's more
than 100 years old - the oldest make in this country. It doesn't seem
right that our oldest auto maker is being dropped in '03.

BRENDAN - Which points up the fact that we should enjoy this Olds
Aurora while we can, Mikele. It's as close as GM has ever come to
challenging imported sports sedans in the areas of handling and
performance. It's been around since 1994 and it's undergone some changes
over the years that have made it more conservative. That befits a car
that's considered something of an entry-level luxury car. We were lucky
enough to draw one that carried a 4.0-liter V8 engine rather than the
alternate V6. The V8 has a very nice rap to its exhaust and it has the
acceleration to go along with it. It's a pretty advanced all-aluminum
unit that carries dual-overhead cams that work four valves per cylinder.
It puts out 250 horses and get pretty good fuel mileage at 18 around
town 28 on the highway.

MIKELE - Oldsmobile has been one of the ongoing favorites in my
family for a long time and one of my grandmothers has owned a couple of
them. The new Aurora is something of a "cookie-cutter" car but I like
its low-nose, high-tail profile that's accented by a sharp crease that
runs from its headlights to the trunk lid. I don't know if the low,
narrow bulge lines that runs the length of the doors on both sides are
to strengthen the sheet metal or to esthetically break up the slab-sided
look, but I find it a little disconcerting. It takes away from what
would otherwise be a very taut and purposeful look. The two separate air
intake "holes" in the nose are non-traditional but Oldsmobile hasn't got
a "traditional" grille to try to work into the design. The styling was
completely new last year, which means it will be a while before it looks
dated.

BRENDAN - You sure see a lot more in a car's design than I do. I
simply would have said that I like its shape and especially the almost
full-circle wheel cutouts. The interior of the Aurora is a little placid
for my taste but there's plenty of adjustment in the driver's seat and
the tilt steering so I can stretch out and get comfortable. The driver's
and front passenger's seats have a kind of enclosed "cockpit" feeling
rather than a single front seating area that's separated by a console.
It's really more sports car-like than a family sedan. The front seats
are heated, although the weather has been so warm lately, we didn't get
a chance to try them. And since it didn't rain either, we didn't get a
chance to utilize the traction control system but I did appreciate its
stability control unit that came into play when I tried some "spirited"
driving in the hills above town.

MIKELE - You didn't tell me about that but I appreciate you not
getting "spirited" when I'm driving with you. There was plenty of trunk
space in the Aurora and unlike some of its competitors in the low-end of
the luxury car niche. I like the fact that the lift-over ledge of the
trunk was low enough that I didn't have to wrestle bags of groceries
over it when I went shopping. Just for fun, I got into the back seat to
see how it felt and I was a little disappointed. It's very soft to me,
which is just a matter of taste, but it's also pretty low. I'm fairly
tall, so I can see well from the back seat, but my little grandmother
would have trouble seeing much of the view if we took her for a drive.

BRENDAN - There's an optional navigational radio system available on
the Aurora, but ours didn't have it. It comes with a pair of CD-ROMs,
one that has all the major highways and roads throughout the country and
another that's specific to the owner's area. Once you punch in an
address, the system tells you where to turn and if you make a wrong
turn, it tell you how to get back on track.

MIKELE - That beats a glovebox road map, Bren. I can never get those
darn things folded correctly after the first time I use one.